Chapter 26: Pointy Ears and Grave Robbing

Disclaimer: I do not own Highschool DxD but I would like Ichiei's opinion on my fic. I own all the OCs. Who do I talk to, to make that happen?

Speech – "Hey, I'm Pierce."

Thoughts – 'I'm dead.'

Spells – "Jumon"

Scandinavia

High in Northern Europe laid a frosty sub region. These lands contained many natural wonders from the tall mountains in the Norwegian district to the flat, low areas in Denmark and the archipelagos in Sweden and Norway. Often called the Nordic countries, the people there were tough and lived simple but long lives. Ships could be seen traveling on the waters everyday and many citizens in the southern regions could be seen out and about. The Protestant Reformation was currently happening and it heavily impacted the Nordic countries, civil disputes popping up wherever there was church corruption. With the Norse Pantheon actually existing, the fact that the Three Faction's religion reaches here is a bit ridiculous but none of this mattered much to me; kind of hard for it to…when I was a couple thousand feet above it all.

"Whoa!" I whooped in happiness as I flew amongst the clouds, doing flips and twirls. I reached out and touched the fluffy condensed water, leaving trails in the white clouds as I flew by. I abruptly cut my magic and fell straight down, free falling for a minute. After going through multiple clouds, I reactivated my flying spell and flew up. The flying spell I asked Maven for after coming back from the Underworld was a 1st Order Spell and it was apparently pretty easy to learn. 'Oh the wasted time.' I placed my hands behind my head and floated in the air, enjoying the beautiful view (she also gave me a spell that keeps the temperature and air around me to ground levels).

"…Are you done yet?" Adrian's voice rang out and I hummed.

"In a second, you should really come up here man, the view is amazing."

"You do realize we just came from a mountain that sticks out of orbit, right?" I could hear the amusement in Adrian's voice.

"That's different. Someone else made that mountain; I'm doing my own Superman thing."

"…Who?" I chuckled at his confusion and brought my communication ring closer.

"Never mind, have you found the tribe yet?" I asked as I twirled in the air.

"Not yet. No one in town seems to know anything about the location and Melissa can't find it either. You seeing anything up there?" I looked down at his question and I could see a small town. It was an ordinary spot with open fields around it, a forest and another town a couple of kilometers away from it.

"Nope, I got nothing from up here."

"Hmmm, alright then. Come back and we'll try to get in contact with the other group, see how they're doing."

"Roger." I cut the link and went back to enjoying the view. Why were we in an unremarkable corner of Scandinavia where nothing's happening? Because Zeth's Generals have finally left his dimension and were spotted here.

The Werewolf Lord and Descendant of Lycaon, Ferox was one such general. If you haven't heard the story, Lycaon was the ruler of a kingdom called Arcadia and he offered the roasted flesh of his son to Zeus, to test if he really was a God. This backfired miserably and Zeus transformed Lycaon into a werewolf for the rest of his days…until the good old Biblical God found him and fused him with a God blade called Ame-no-Ohabari to create the Longinus Sacred Gear, Canis Lykaon (now that's a back story).

Thing is, Ferox isn't the one we were going after. We were tracking down another General that was close by, the Dark Elf King Talien. And we may need to go through a tribe of cannibal Elf dancers to get to him.

Yeah, let's backtrack a little.

1 Day Earlier, Top of Olympus

Inside the training room of Olympus, our group was huddled together in the resting corner. I was sitting on the couch with Maven and Melissa while Adrian sat on a stool in front of me. Vargas and Samantha were standing on the side, listening in as I told my adventures in the Underworld. Aindrea was wiping his spear on the side, pretending not to listen.

"…That's how I got the property deed to the land and built my first mercenary base there. I also met a Devil named Dean and convinced him to join my association. I think that's-oh yeah, I also got an incredibly powerful female Devil to dress up in pink, cartoony outfits and awakened her inner magical girl…Okay I'm done." I finished my summary and leaned back on the couch. They were really quiet but I think they were impressed.

"Pierce…what the fuck…" Though by Adrian's response, I could be wrong. The Emissary rubbed his forehead in frustration while Vargas turned to Samantha. He put his hand out.

"Pay up." Vargas smirked and Samantha pouted in response before rubbing her space ring. She took out a bundle of money and placed it on his hand. I stared at the exchange.

"You guys want to explain that?" I pointed at Vargas as he pocketed the money and he shrugged.

"We bet on whether you would return without doing something dangerous and/or ridiculous. I apparently know you the best." Vargas said as he caught a bundle of money Melissa threw at him and walked up to Aindrea, who grumbled as he handed over his share. I looked at my girlfriend.

"I bet you would mess with a Devil lord or 2." She shrugged.

"I thought you would piss off a noble clan. I was partly right." Aindrea commented from the side.

"I bet you would face off against an army of Devils to save a bunch of innocent children." I made a weird face at Samantha's oddly accurate guess.

"I guessed all three." Vargas said as he counted his money.

"…Can we all focus." Adrian deadpanned. "Pierce, you're the only guy I know that can be sent to deliver a letter and end up starting a civil war."

"Hey now, I didn't start anything!...I think." Honestly, with how I changed the fate of the Buné Clan, the odds that I kick started the Civil War earlier than expexted isn't impossible (not that I would admit it). "Besides, does it really matter?"

"…No, actually it doesn't." Adrian relented after a second and stood up. "I would just like it if you didn't do things that put you in such danger without us around. What would have happened if this Sirzechs guy wasn't there to rescue you? You were in real danger and we may have never seen you again." I kept silent at Adrian's words before smiling.

"I see you haven't run out of sap since I left." I stood up and patted Adrian's shoulder. "You're right; I should have thought things through and left when I had the chance. I'm sorry."

"…Really?" Adrian blinked at words, surprised at my understanding. I nodded.

"Yeah, you guys are my friends and I definitely wouldn't want you guys disappearing on me. So, from now on I promise…whenever I do stupid shit, I'll make sure you guys know about it!" I smiled confidently as the others stared.

"…How about you just stop doing idiotic things?" Adrian deadpanned to which I scoffed.

"Adrian please, let's be realistic here." He shook his head in mirth.

"I figured as much. Well, I'm glad you came back safe Pierce, and just in time too."

"In time for what?"

"The Generals have been spotted." Adrian started explaining that Zeth's generals have finally left his dimension and that they changed up their routine. They seemed to now move in pairs and that 2 generals were spotted in Scandinavia. While Adrian was confident in our strength, facing two Ultimate Class beings at the same time was a bit too risky and that we were going to work with another party. We were to meet them tomorrow to talk battle plans and that everyone should rest up. Adrian left to make the arrangements and everyone went off to do their own things.

"Hey!" Melissa said in surprise as I lifted her up and carried her bridal style.

"You were oddly quiet after my story, what's wrong?" I said as I sat down on the couch once again. She looked away from me.

"Nothing's wrong…" Even without Chi, I could tell she was lying and titled my head at her.

"Melissa, something's bothering you and unfortunately, we're in a healthy relationship where we talk about our feelings. Now do you want to tell me or do I need to…force it out of you?" She made a weird face at that.

"What the hell does that mean?" Melissa watched as I rubbed my space ring and took out a single long feather. Her reaction was instantaneous. Her eyes widened and she tried to stand up but I held her close, not letting her go. "You wouldn't dare." She narrowed her eyes at me and I smirked.

"Oh really?" I waved my hand and a magic circle appeared, spinning ominously (yes, Maven taught me that spell too). She struggled against my hold and we locked eyes, waiting for the other to make a move. We stood there in silence for a minute before I sighed and deactivated the magic circle. "…I'm sorry."

"What?" Melissa was confused at my apology.

"I said I'm sorry. Really I am. I shouldn't have taken that mission without at least messaging you, I could have been killed against Ethan and what happened in the capital wasn't any better…I'm sorry." Jokes aside, my actions in the Underworld went beyond my typical stupidity and into the realm of recklessness. While fighting Tylin and his silver Devils was out of my control (I mean what was I supposed to do, let those kids die?), I chose to go after the Stray Exorcists. I had no idea about their strengths and weaknesses but I still decided to hunt them down. I put myself in unnecessary danger and that's on me, not to mention, I should have just escaped when Tylin ran but I didn't want to leave it at that. 'Thinking on your mistakes sucks…' I internally groaned as Melissa looked me in the eyes and placed her hand on my cheek.

"I'm not mad that you accepted that job Pierce. Or the fact that you fought those Devils, I can't be when you had a pretty good reason." Melissa said this with a wry smile. "I'm just worried. I know you will always do things that put you in danger but it eats me up when you have to do those things alone. I should have gone with you."

"Yeah, that's also my fault."

"I know." She said with a smirk. "But I didn't argue against it. From now on, whenever you do something dangerous, I want to be there when it happens. Better to be dumb together than alone, right?" I blankly stared at her bright smile and pulled her into a deeper hug.

"You're the best, you know that?"

"You bet your ass." Melissa wrapped her arms around my neck and we sat there hugging, enjoying each other's warmth. She was right. I know that I wouldn't want her doing stuff that was incredibly dangerous on her own and that works both ways. I'm just glad this didn't become a big issue.

'Speaking of issues…' I looked around and found that the rest of the team left the training area, effectively leaving us alone. "Hey Melissa, since we're alone…I was wondering…" Melissa deadpanned.

"No, Pierce. Wait until we get back to our room."

"What!? No! That's not what I-Actually yes, I would like that but that's not what I'm talking about." I smiled at my girlfriend's knowing look. "I was hoping to talk about Maven."

"What about her?"

"Well…" How do I start this? "…Can we talk about the lunch box?"

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that. Did you enjoy it?"

"…Not what I wanted to focus on but yeah, it was pretty good. I heard you helped her make it."

"She wanted to know what you liked and I was free so I thought I would help her out." She shrugged nonchalantly at the fact.

"…And why exactly did you help her?"

"What do you mean? Why wouldn't I?" Melissa asked in an innocent tone.

'Is she doing this on purpose?' I looked over her face but found no playfulness or deceit. "Okay, then let me be blunt. You know Maven has feelings for me right?" I got to the point and Melissa nodded.

"So?"

"…What do you mean so!? Helping a girl that likes your boyfriend is pretty weird! And coming from me that means something!" I know they're friends and all but this makes no sense. "…Melissa, I'm going to take a guess here and I'm most likely wrong but I'm going to say it anyway…Please don't hit me."

"Okay?" The Shadow Yokai watched me with confusion as I took a deep breath and looked her in the eye.

"Are you okay with me dating other women?" I went for it and closed my eyes in preparation for the hit.

"Sure." Though it never came and I blinked at how quick she answered.

"…And by that you mean?"

"I mean that I'm fine with you dating other women." She clarified and I nodded along.

"Okay then." I leaned back against the couch, processing the new information. "Quick question though…what the hell?" While a part of me was screaming to "take this golden pass and run", I had to ask. From anyone else this would have seemed like a trap, but she's not like that so I was honestly stumped.

"It's not strange. My mother manages my father's mistresses and they get along well enough, I even call most of them aunt. Yokai's practice polygamy to increase their clan size and many women choose strong males to have powerful descendants." Melissa explained the inner workings of supernatural mating and most of it actually made sense. Picking a strong mate was an ideology that's existed since the dawn of time, be it in animals, insects, or normal humans. It was even more extreme in the supernatural world where strength was everything and with the Yokai's rate of birth, they had to try all avenues to continue the bloodline.

"…So you're with me because of my strength?" It was more a feeling of curiosity than pain. I did like Melissa for her cheerful personality, I did find her very attractive and that was a leading factor in wanting to be with her (I'm shallow, sue me). The smack to my head said it all.

"You deserved to be hit for that." I rubbed my head at Melissa's scolding and timidly nodded. "Sure, your strength was something I liked, I like spending time with you more. Your fun and you don't let your power get to your head, that's a plus in my book. Though you could dial back with the weirdness."

"Are you going to stop irrationally loving food?"

"…Never."

"Then we're at an impasse." I shrugged and she hummed in agreement. "But are you really okay with that, I don't want to make you feel like you need to follow what your parents do." At the end of the day, I wasn't going to make her feel like shit for being with other women.

"Well, my mom never seemed to have a problem with it and I like Maven, she's awesome. But…" Melissa smiled and rubbed my chest. "If you ever stop paying attention to me in favor of the others then…" Her hand lowered and hovered over my crotch, making swiping motions. I got the message.

"…You know that thing I said about a healthy relationship?" I nervously chuckled

"Uh-huh." Melissa gave me a dry look before smiling and grabbing my face, kissing me. I kissed her back and we made out for a while before separating, Melissa resting her head against mine. "I missed you."

"I missed you too." I smiled and brought her close, hugging her. It's barely been over a day since I left, but all the chaos I had to deal with made it feel far longer. I should really get some sleep. I moved to get up and set Melissa aside. "I'm going to bed, see you tomorrow okay?"

"Okay." She nodded and I kissed her goodbye, walking down the halls to my room. I don't know how long I was resting in the Gremory house hold but it clearly wasn't enough because my body was still sore. While the majority of my injuries were healed thanks to my Chi, it couldn't do anything about my fatigue and mental state. As I reached the door to my room, I rubbed the base of my spine, right where it impacted against the castle walls.

"Damn Grayfia, you hit hard…" I grimaced as the damage done by the silver haired Devil was the one part of my body that my Chi was still healing. 'I wonder if she got my message?' I didn't want her to feel bad over what she did but I'm pretty sure she still did. Is it weird that I'm worried about the feelings of a Devil that knocked me out?

"Who's Grayfia?" I didn't get the chance to think about it however because Melissa's voice rang out and I turned around, seeing my girlfriend's imploring eyes.

"...She's a Devil that I worked with. But more importantly, why are you-"

"I'm a Chi-user too Pierce and I could tell you're a little out of it." Melissa smirked at my reaction for being caught and opened the door. "That's why I'm going to nurse you back to health!" I made an amused smile at her claim.

"And how exactly are you going to th-" I stopped, remembering her effective way of healing me. Melissa must have noticed my face since she smiled and walked in the room, playfully glancing back at me as she entered. I didn't react until a minute later. "…Who needs sleep anyway." I walked into the room after her and slammed the door behind me, a stupid grin on my face.

After the conversation earlier, I thought she would still have some hesitation but…I think everything will be okay.

6 Hours Later, Side Garden

Athena's foot slammed against my chest, sending me flying back and hitting the ground. Waiting for my breath to come back to me, I rolled to the side when it did and dodged Athena's downward fist. Ignoring how it left a small crater, I sent a roundhouse kick to her face but she blocked it and held on to my leg. The Goddess of Wisdom flung me far away and I smashed against a large tree, leaving a me-sized indent in the bark. I quickly leaned to the left, dodging Athena's fist and punched her in the gut. That did nothing however and she punched my face, sending me smashing through the tree.

'And the universe is in balance…' That was all that went through my mind as I blinked the white away and tried to stand up. And fuck was it an effort. After a session of Bouchujutsu with Melissa, my body was once more in tip top condition and I was ready to take on the world. Athena must have somehow known that and came to find me, telling me that we would continue our training. I tried to ask her what she's been up to since I left but the Goddess of Wisdom just gave a "not much" and dragged me to our usual training grounds. While I was confused about her lackluster attitude, I figured she had a bad day and didn't ask.

That was my first mistake.

"Again." Athena sternly said and got into a fighting pose, I groggily mimicked it. She lunged at me with speed that I could have barely intercepted but I didn't and ended up having my legs swiped. I fell to the ground and Athena kicked me in the chest, forcing me to block. I skidded across the grass and quickly got up, just in time to see a fist going for my face. I leaned to the side and tried to grab it but Athena pulled it back just in time and kicked me in the waist. My face was once again reacquainted with the ground and I groaned.

"Keep it up! You're doing great!" Mistake number 2 was currently watching all this happen on the side. I glared over in the direction of a smirking Aphrodite and she was sitting on a bench, petting a sleeping Jade. We met the Goddess of Beauty on the way here and she asked us what we were doing. She wanted to tag along to watch the training and I agreed easily enough, finding no problem with it.

I obviously don't think things through.

'Yes, the universe is very much back in balance.' I grunted and sat up, finding everything kind of funny. My girlfriend tells me she's fine with a polygamous relationship (never thought that'd be a thing), we have awesome sex, and now a couple hours later I'm getting my ass kicked by a Goddess in a bad mood while another watches. '…Okay fine, this is very funny.' I rolled to the side as Athena came at me with a Chi Sword and stood up.

"Focus." She warned and pointed her sword at me; I created my own. We clashed blades and Athena did not hold back on the sword play. Coming at angles that made me question if her arm hurt, I hardly blocked anything and was quickly hit on every corner of my body. The one sword swing I was able to block shattered my construct and left me defenseless to block the one aimed at my head (not like I was doing well anyway). I fell to the ground once more and laid there, fully exhausted.

"Pierce 0, Sexy War Goddess…what is it like 26?" Aphrodite cheerfully asked.

"Do you have nothing better to do?" I asked, irritation clear in my tone, and sighed at Aphrodite's "nope". I looked over at Athena as she dissolved her Chi Sword and cracked her neck. "Hey Athena…are you angry at me?" I hesitantly asked and she blankly stared down at me.

"Why would you think that?" She said it so neutrally but I could definitely feel some sarcasm in there.

"I'm going to take that as yes. Can I know why?"

"I'm not mad at you Pier-"

"She's upset that you didn't tell her about your fight with the Red Dragon." Aphrodite cut off her sister and told the truth.

"Aphrodite!" Athena blushed at my shock and admonished the Goddess of Beauty.

"She's also mad you didn't tell her that you were going to the Underworld."

"Aphrodite!" I stared at the Goddess of War as she huffed at her smirking sister and crossed her arms.

"…Awww." I blinked at Athena's glare and realized I said that out loud. "I mean not aww. I meant cute- no! That's not what I-" I stopped when Athena's glare became dry and lowered my head. "…I'm sorry."

"I'm really not mad Pierce, I'm just frustrated." Athena sighed and ran a hand through her hair.

"I could help with that." Aphrodite offered which earned a bland look from Athena.

"I just wished you would think about how I felt. I'm your teacher…"

"Is that what you're going with?"

"…And your friend." Athena ignored Aphrodite and continued. "I know about the Heavenly Dragon's rivalry and how deadly they came to be, to those involved or not. Fine, you didn't need to tell me that I went to the Underworld but the Red Dragon Emperor is a whole other issue. Just the fact that you killed him will bring attention to you, not to mention the White Dragon coming after you just to prove a point. I had to find out from one of Hermes' men and you immediately left like nothing was wrong. Honestly, if there was anything to be upset about is that you went to gain outside help to track down the White Dragon Emperor. You didn't think to ask me for help? Did you think I would refuse?"

"What!? No! I mean…" I did think about asking her for help when Mephisto told me about my situation but… "You have your own problems; I didn't want to add my own to the pile." Athena eyes seemed to soften at that and she sighed.

"Look Pierce, I understand not bringing your problems to others and dealing with it yourself. And it would be very hypocritical of me to chastise your decision to fight them when you're eventually going to face Zeth but you can ask for help." I kept quiet at Athena's words and suddenly felt stupid. The Goddess of Wisdom kneeled and placed a hand on my shoulder. "I don't call myself your teacher because I like the way it sounds. You can always ask me for help."

"…You got it Athena." I smiled at the Goddess and she smiled back, leaving us in a comforting silence.

"…So are you guys going to kiss and make up or…" Of course, Aphrodite had to speak up and ruin the moment, making Athena blush at her words.

"You know what, he's right! Do you have nothing else to do!?" The Goddess of Beauty's answer was the same as ever. I chuckled at their squabble and looked towards Athena.

"So we're good?" Athena stopped and looked back to me.

"Yes Pierce, we're good."

"Great…so can you take these off now?" I lifted my arms to Athena and pleaded. Yellow glowing markings were covering my forearms and they were the main cause of my grief. These were Gravity Marks that increased the weight of one section of my body or the entirety (pretty much what I remembered Sairaorg using to train). I asked Athena a long time ago if we could use these but she wanted to personally test my physical limit and go from there. That made sense so I waited and today was finally the day that she chose to put them on. Problem? They were cranked to an 11 and I could barely move, becoming a punching bag for the War Goddess.

"No." Athena shook her head. "Just because I was mad at you Pierce does not mean I abused the Gravity Marks. They're at a level where you can just barely move if you put in the effort but with time you can get used to them."

"And the reason I can't use Touki?"

"Touki vastly increases the physical capabilities of your base form. Training your normal body will in turn make the increase in power from Touki higher."

"Ah…" I finally understood and leaned back on the ground. "Good to know I won't be sporting bruises for the next couple of days for nothing." Athena had the decency to look sheepish.

"I may have gone a bit overboard…sorry." I told her it was fine and tossed my space ring at her. She caught it and looked at me in confusion.

"Check inside. First thing on the left." I instructed her and she rubbed the space ring, taking out a pair of bracers. They were light blue with intricate drawings like birds, deer, wolves, and they were magical too, fitting perfectly to anyone's wrists. "Souvenirs." I answered Athena's enquiring look. "I know they're not much but I hope you like them." To a Goddess like Athena, a pair of low level magical bracers were nothing but I figured I should bring something for her too (I already gave everyone else their souvenirs). She stared down at the bracers before smiling.

"No, they're very nice." Athena took off her current, much more expensive, golden bracers and put on the one I gave her. They glowed, fitting perfectly to the Goddess' wrist and she showed them off. "How do they look?"

"…They look great." She grinned at my honest answer and messed with her new accessory. Granted, Athena could make anything look good, the light blue bracers matched with her armor and eyes. Seeing the time, Athena called an end to our training and to meet her here tomorrow morning. I watched as she left the garden and stretched, groaning at the pain. I felt a weight on my head and looked up to see Aphrodite standing over me. Jade was now sitting on my head.

"Thank Zeus that's over with, she's been antsy and moody since you left. Anymore and I would had have to try and cheer her up. That would have been a drag."

"You really don't like working do you?" I asked which earned a scoff from the Goddess.

"When it comes to us Gods, you either become a workaholic like Amaterasu and The Biblical God or a lazy bum like Gautama. I'm graciously in the middle." Aphrodite seemed proud of that and puffed out her perfect chest. I made a weird expression.

'…The Buddha's a bum?' Shaking the thought out of my head, I asked a question I personally always wondered. "Why do you guys call him the Biblical God? I remember reading somewhere that his name was Yahweh, why don't you guys call him that?"

"That's from the Old Testament and if the sources are to be believed, then yes that is his real name. It's just that the New Testament messed up his name with our Greek text and that was never fixed."

"Whose fault is that?"

"Moses." I blinked at the answer.

'…I should really look up the history of this world.' With mythology being real, history was mostly the same but also incredibly different. "Wait, I thought he made the Old Testament."

"He did but before he died, he wanted to spread the Bible to other sections of the world and made a version of it in Koine Greek. It became pretty popular…the problem is that he butchered the language and messed up God's name. The guy who created the New Testament didn't know and rolled with it. Boy was he pissed." Aphrodite chuckled remembering the Biblical God's anger and embarrassment at the mistake.

"I bet." I smirked and stood up. "I should be on my way, the meeting's about to start." I started to make my way to the exit.

"Hey Pierce." Aphrodite spoke up and I turned back to look at her. Her face was solemn. "You know Athena isn't the only one you can go to for help, right?"

"…I know." I gave her a grateful smile and turned to leave. Right into Aphrodite's smiling face. "Whoa!" I stumbled back and looked at where she was a minute ago. "How did you-"

"That being said…" She outstretched her hand and gave me an expectant look. I stared down at the hand.

"Uhhh, what's-"

"Where's my souvenir?"

'…Oh shit.' I didn't get her one. I started to visibly sweat as she stood there waiting and tilted her head at me.

"You didn't forget about me did you?"

'Yes.' "No!" I hurriedly shook my head.

"Great!...So where is it?" I quickly rubbed my space ring at her question and tried to find something to give her. Grabbing onto the first thing that I felt, I pulled it out and held it. It was a maid outfit. From the store Grayfia and I went to shop at, in Lucifaad. I started to sweat for another reason. Before I could put it back, it disappeared and I turned to see it in Aphrodite's hands. The silence was deafening.

"You have a taste for the finer things I see." Aphrodite smirked and I tried my best to keep a straight face. By her laugh, I can tell I failed. She observed the outfit up and down before storing it away. "I've worn many things over the years but a maid outfit is not one of them."

"Uhhh…"

"Well, I guess there's a first time for everything."

"…Uhhh…" My brain was still trying to catch up. Aphrodite laughed at my expression and patted my head.

"Thanks for the gift; it's the most interesting one I've gotten in a while. And who knows, you just might get to see me in it." Aphrodite ended with that and left the side garden, leaving me still gobsmacked.

"…"

"…"

"…Huh." And the universe shifts.

30 Minutes Later, Meeting Room

"…Are you okay?" Vargas asked from his seat next to me. I was blankly staring out into space as the rest of the team were lazing around the room.

"I'm good. It's just been…a weird day."

"…So it's Tuesday?"

"Humph! Good one." I chuckled at his joke and looked over to the side. Melissa and Maven were talking in hushed voices in the corner. More than once did the mage look over at me before looking away. I could guess what they're talking about. "Hey Vargas, can I ask you a question?"

"Am I going to be confused by the end of it?"

"Most likely."

"…Go ahead."

"Have you ever wanted a harem, or been in a position to get one?" He leaned back at that and fell into thought. I didn't wait long before he answered.

"I've never had the opportunity to get one and I've never really wanted one. I like women but I'm more of a one woman kind of guy."

"So what, am I greedy for wanting more than one?" I never considered myself the paragon type and I'm very honest with my desires but I still felt kind of scummy. Vargas shook his head at that though.

"It's your life and you can do whatever you want. As long as your partner has no problem with it, and you take care of them equally, then I say go nuts." I thought about his words and nodded.

"Thanks man, you're a lot wiser then you look." Vargas proudly smiled at that.

"Yeah, well I have met lots of people and they-hey!" I chuckled as he finally heard what I said and blocked a punch meant for my shoulder. He grumbled for a second and I observed him curiously.

"So what about you?"

"Hm?"

"What lucky lady has the privilege of being pursued by our resident steel warrior?"

"…What?"

"Who do you like?" I bluntly asked and Vargas lowered his head. I waited patiently as he drummed his foot and after a minute, peeked over to a corner of the room. I followed his gaze and noticed the blond haired, book reading healer. She was happily humming as she flipped the page of her boo-are those tentacles?

I blinked and squinted, seeing that the cover of her book were indeed tentacles. She must have noticed our gazes because she looked at us and smiled, kindly waving. We waved back and she returned to her book, still humming. I looked over to the now still form of Vargas (who was slightly blushing) and then back to Samantha. I did this a few more times until I got it.

"Well well well…" I smirked at Vargas and he glared back.

"Don't."

"Hey man, there are worse choices and she's definitely worth it. Go for it!" I patted Vargas on the shoulder but he looked hesitant.

"I-I don't know."

"What do you mean? You know plenty. You've laughed with her, you've fought alongside her, and she definitely has enough personality for the two of you." Vargas gave me a bland look (Am I wrong?). "Go for it brother!"

"Hmmm…" He still looked hesitant.

"And not to be that guy but didn't you accept the mission to kill a God without hesitation? How did that not stop you but this does?"

"That's different…"

"How so?"

"It's easier to kill a God." Vargas gave that out and I blinked.

"I want to disagree with you but…every anime I've ever watched doesn't." I saw the odd look on Vargas' face and got back on topic. "But seriously, I would tell her how you-"

I didn't get to finish as the door to the meeting room opened and four people walked in. Three of them were male while the last one was female. Promising to finish this conversation later, we all stood up and went to meet the new arrivals.

"Are you Adrian?" A tall man with curly brown hair and a thin beard spoke up. He was fairly built and wore clothes that reminded me of a sailor. Adrian nodded.

"I'm Adrian, you're Odysseus?" I did a double take.

"Yes I am. It's an honor to-"

"Hold on." I cut off Odysseus. "Really? So what; are you his descendant or spirit inheritor?" Odysseus looked at Adrian in puzzlement but he just sighed and nodded.

"I'm his descendant."

"And you're Poseidon's emissary?" I made an amused smile at his nod. "…Really? No one finds this ironic?" I asked but no one reacted.

"…I thought it was too." A man with long brown hair and a handsome face raised his hand. I pointed at him. "But if you really want to see something ironic…" The man turned to his companion. He was a very large man with dense muscles, an average face, and he had tribal clothes. "This guy is half Cyclops."

"Really?!" I look up to the half man, half Cyclops in curiosity. "Are you related to that Cyclops that got his eye poked out by Odysseus?"

"…He's my ancestor." The Cyclops descendant's voice was quite soft and polite.

"And you have no problem traveling with his enemy's descendant?" I smiled at his shrug and turned to the last member. She was a short and beautiful woman with long black hair that actually seemed to shine in the light (definitely magic). "What about you?"

"I'm the descendant of Circe's and a half Fairy. Celica." I shook her outstretched hand and turned to the others.

"Phonemes." The Cyclops descendant bowed.

"Achilles." He smiled at the way my eyes widened. "His spirit inheritor." I looked him up and down before stopping on his feet.

"…Okay, I have to ask-"

"No! My weakness is not my Achilles!" Phonemes and Celica laughed at his outburst. "Why is that the first thing everyone asks!?"

"Because one of Greek's greatest heroes thought it was smart to make his weakness his name?" Celica smirked at Achilles' glare.

"That wasn't actually his weakness though!" I was surprised by that.

"It wasn't?"

"No! Some stupid story teller just thought the arrow that hit his Achilles was what took him down! Selectively ignoring the dozens of others that were sticking out his body and even then he kept on fighting! I mean, the arrow that struck his Achilles wasn't even the last arrow!" Achilles huffed in exhaustion from his rant, Phonemes and Celica patting his shoulders in sympathy (this was probably a regular occurrence).

"Okay…but I thought 6 people were needed for an Emissaries' group. Where are the oth-"

"Pierce." I stopped and looked at Adrian rubbing his forehead. He looked tired. "I know you have a lot of questions but can we please get back to the topic at hand?" I scratched the back of my head in embarrassment and apologized. We all met in the middle of the room and Adrian stepped forward, placing down 2 runes. Tapping on one, it lit up and a hologram appeared above the rune. A man with dark brown hair, a handsome face and red eyes appeared in the hologram. "This is Ferox, the Werewolf Lord and the descendant of Lycaon." I quirked a brow at that.

"That king who roasted his son and tried to get Zeus to eat it?"

"Yes, the same one." Adrian nodded.

"Yet you don't know who Kush-nada-hime is…" Maven said in a low tone and I rolled my eyes, nudging her foot. She nudged back.

"Well he's been spotted in Scandinavia, Finland more specifically."

"What's there that he could want?" Odysseus asked and Adrian rubbed the rune. Another image appeared, a pack of wolves with fur that looked like a mix of shadows and iron.

"There's a clan of wolves in Finland known as Malmr Wolfs and they could be Ferox's target but there's no saying for sure."

"How long ago were they spotted?" Achilles asked.

"This report came in this morning so a couple of hours at best."

"Well alright then!" I stood up and smiled. "Let's go kill a werewolf! I'll go get another coat made!" I turned and walked to the exit, planning to go ask the Olympus tailor to make me another leather coat (I never fixed the shredded one in Constantinople).

"Um, Pierce?" Adrian's voice stopped me however and I turned back. "We're not going after Ferox."

"…We're not?"

"No."

"…Aww man, I wanted to kill a werewolf." I slumped and walked back to my chair, glumly sitting down. "So who are we going after?" Adrian rubbed the second rune. An image of a tall, grey skinned man appeared. He had pointy ears, yellow eyes and he was wearing thick black robes. He had long black hair and he was handsome.

"This is the Dark Elf King Talien and he's our target."

"What is he the king of?" Vargas asked.

"He is supposedly the king of a section of Svartalfheim."

"Svartalfheim?" Aindrea frowned at the mentioned world. "I've heard that the Norse Elves were currently in a civil dispute. Why would he be one of Zeth's Generals?"

"Who knows." Adrian shrugged. "Maybe he wants Zeth's help with the dispute in Svartalfheim? That's what Lady Athena and Lord Apollon think."

"Wait, I thought Odin governs the Nine worlds. How is there a civil dispute? More importantly, does the Norse mythology actually have nine worlds because that just doesn't sound fair." I asked and Maven answered.

"They do and it's not really unfair because the Gods can create another dimension as large as Olympus but they're fine with this." I nodded along at her explanation. "And Odin has chosen to stay out of the fight but no one knows why."

"Whatever the reason, they're in Scandinavia and Talien has been spotted around Denmark. Odysseus and his team are to track down Ferox while we hunt Talien. If either team needs help don't hesitate to ask." The meeting ended there and the team leaders swapped contact information for the coming mission.

"So what's in Denmark that Talien wants?" I asked as Odysseus' team left the room and Adrian checked the rune.

"The report says there's a tribe of Light Elves that reside there…

"Oh that doesn't sound so-"

…And they're known for luring bystanders with their seductive dances before capturing them and eating them."

"…"

"…"

"...Oh."

Back to the Present

'Well there goes that cliché.' I thought as I floated back to the ground and walked to our new hideout. 'What are the odds he's just a Danish fan?' I opened the door and everyone was already here. Adrian was currently talking into his communication ring.

"Enjoyed the flight?" Melissa asked as she leaned by the door and I smiled.

"Hell yeah. It's really beautiful up there; you should really see it sometime."

"When I grow wings." She finished with that and we paid attention to the conversation.

"So what's happening so far?" Adrian asked,

"We found tracks that may belong to the wolf clan. We'll follow them and get back to you when we find Ferox. How are you doing?" Odysseus' voice came through the ring.

"We haven't found anything yet but Maven should almost be finished with that spell. Thanks for that."

"No problem, Celica has past experience with the elves so she had that spell on hand."

"Hopefully it will lead us straight to Talien." Adrian talked a bit more with Odysseus before hanging up and looking at Maven. "How are you doing, can you learn it?" Maven nodded at Adrian's question before flipping a page. She was reading a magic book that had leaves and vines over it.

"I'm almost done actually, it's more complex than I thought it would be but it shouldn't take much longer." I leaned over to get a peek at the book and I had to blink at what I was seeing. A bunch of muddled symbols that made no sense to me littered the pages and I looked at Adrian.

"What the hell is that?"

"That's a Fairy spell from Celica and it can track down Light Elves. She also said it was a 3rd Order spell."

"How is that a thing?"

"Elves and Fairies are closely related to each other." Maven said as she stood up. "They're both attuned to nature, are reclusive, and their magic systems are quite similar."

"Ah…" I nodded. "So it's kind of like how an Angel could track a Devil because of their shared history and magic?"

"Yes, that's a pretty good comparison." Maven put the book away and walked towards the door. "Come on, I'll cast the spell now." We followed the mage out of the house and stopped at the front lawn. Being out in the current side, there was barely anyone in the fields so Maven didn't hesitate to cast her spell. She waved her hand and a green magic circle appeared in front of her. "Iter Autem Lux Dryadales." A bright light came out from the magic circle and it formed into a wisp. It floated in place for a bit, looking around curiously like a child in a new place. I smiled.

"It's kind of cut-whoa!" Then the wisp flew in one direction, becoming a blur and quickly going out of sight. We chased after it, running through the open fields and passing by a couple of old houses. After running for about 5 minutes, we finally caught up with the wisp as it hovered in the air. The area was oddly shaped as two large mounds were on each end of the area and the wisp seemed to enjoy encircling these 2 large standing stones. The stones had old Nordic symbols over them and they seemed ancient.

"What are these?" Maven stepped forward at my question and traced her hand along the stones, observing the text.

"These are the Jelling Runestones. They were created by the ancient king of Denmark, Gorm the Old in memory of his wife. Except…" Maven hesitated and looked around.

"What?" She didn't answer as the mage continued to look around. We all watched as she circled around the Runestones before stopping. She stared down at the ground.

"Pierce, Samantha, Aindrea…sense down." I looked at the other 2 in puzzlement and we did what she said, sensing the ground with our Spiritual Energy.

'What the…' I gasped as I sensed a massive dormant spell underground with the Jelling Runestones as the nexus. Except that "dormant" spell was recently activated by the signs of it being shifted.

"What's going on?" Melissa asked in confusion as we looked at each other and Maven resumed touching the stones.

"There's a magic spell in the ground and someone recently used it because it looks way too old to be made from a magician from this age." I explained to the three non magic users of the group. Magic, much like technology, evolved with time and the Magical Languages used in the spell were an Old Norse variant. Not something you would see in recent Norse magic.

"Does it have something to do with Talien or the Elf clan?" Adrian asked.

"We're about to find out." Maven waved her hands and Norse Magic circles appeared around her. She started chanting in an Old Norse language and the Runestones reacted, the text glowing white. The 2 mounds sunk a little into the ground and a split went right down the middle between the two, opening wide. We had to jump out of the way as Maven floated up in the air and the two Runestones shifted next to the opening. After the rumbling stopped, we saw a staircase leading down into a deep hole appeared.

"...Ladies first?" Maven floated back to the ground and we walked down the steps into the abyss.

Deep Underground

In a dusty, abandoned room laid 2 stone coffins. In one lay a dried out corpse wearing ancient Nordic clothing and a crown sat on the body's head. In the coffin next to it laid another, less shriveled body. Wearing traditional, red Nordic clothing that did not fade with time and a long head dress, the stone coffin was more elevated compared to the first coffin. These were the bodies of Gorm the Old and his wife, Thyra. Wanting to be buried alongside his deceased wife, Gorm had his coffin brought down to forever rest with her and for centuries they had not been disturbed.

"...That didn't take long." A light skinned, pointy eared woman spoke as she ripped off the head of Gorm the Old. She observed the head for a second before taking off the crown and tossing the head aside. She twirled the crown in her hand.

"Lord Talien, should we go intercept them?" Another light skinned woman with pointy ears spoke, kneeling in front of the Dark King. He didn't react and stared down at the corpse of the late Thyra. Looking over the body slowly, his gaze stopped on her finger and smiled.

"So it was true..." Talien spoke in a deep voice as he reached for her hand and picked it up. He gently took off the ring that was on her finger and brought the ring closer, scrutinizing it. His smile only got wider.

"That's what you came all this way for? An old ring?" The woman with the crown now on her head wasn't impressed. This Dark Elf had spent a better part of 2 days negotiating with her village elder to follow him and give information on a certain relic. And this was the relic? An old ring? "I think our village leader made a mistake."

"Watch your tongue Cadence! Lord Talien knows what he's doing!" The other Elf in the room chastised her words.

"Oh really? Taking his side so soon after meeting him? Where's the history gone?" Cadence shook her head and mockingly smiled. "Then again, a spineless follower is actually what he seems to be looking for."

"Enough Cadence." The other Elf narrowed her eyes.

"How about you come here and make-" Cadence didn't get to finish as the magic power in the area skyrocketed and it got harder to breathe for both of them. The stone around them started to form cracks and the bodies in the coffins rumbled, falling apart from the power. After 10 seconds passed, the surge stopped and the two Light Elves could breathe again, huffing. Talien never even looked in their direction. Placing the old ring on his palm, the Elf King slowly closed his hand and squeezed. Crunching was heard in the quiet tomb and he opened his hand a second later, countless small stone fragments remaining.

All expect for one large piece.

"Hm?" Cadence observed the ring fragment, noticing how it actually pulsed with magic power and it definitely wasn't doing that before. "What is that?"

"A fragment of the Andvaranaut." Both Elves were shocked at that. Talien played with the ring fragment for a second before looking up. "But first...let's deal with our pest problem." He stretched out his hands and black smoke spread out from him. Dark blue magic circles appeared around him and Talien started chanting. The smoke seeped into the walls and into the ground, even wrapping the corpses of the couple. Talien finished his chant and looked up once more, his yellows eye glowing.

"Cecidit Autem Martio May!" Then the rumbling began.

Back to Pierce

"Annddd...there's more stairs." I sighed as another set of stairs leading down appeared. We walked down the first pair of stairs we found and reached an old burial chamber with countless coffins within. We slowly explored the space, not knowing if Talien or anyone under him was here but we found nothing. Choosing to go deeper, we had to walk down another flight of stairs to the next level. Then another. Then another. This was the fourth flight of stairs we had to go down. I was over it. 'How big did this Gorm guy want his wife's grave to be?' It was a nice gesture but that gesture was starting to irritate me. 'And Talien may not even be-'

Que rumbling.

"!" I watched in shock as the room shook and black smoke started coming out the cracks of the floor.

"Praesidio muros." Before I could activate Touki, Samantha casted her spell and covered us all in a yellow barrier. The smoke, however, seemed to ignore us and spread out in all directions, being sucked into the coffins on the side.

"What is that?" I asked as more smoke disappeared into the coffins and soon enough, all the smoke cleared out. Samantha put down her barrier after seeing nothing happening and we looked around. We jumped when one coffin's lid popped off and a shriveled hand grabbed the edges. '...Oh hell no...' I watched in shock as a shriveled black corpse slowly sat up in the coffin and looked over to us, white light in it's eye sockets. It growled.

Then my fist connected.

"Oh hell fucking no!" I screamed as I punched the zombie with a Seismic Fist and it's head blew up, ash flying everywhere. I huffed as the corpse fell back in the coffin and turned back to the group. They all looked at me with odd expressions. "...I am not dealing with a Walking Dead experience today."

"...Wha-" They didn't get to finish because the rest of the coffins opened up and all the corpses in them slowly crawled. Taking out my sword, I stood next to the other's and cautiously observed the zombies.

"Well I guess that answers whether Talien is here or not. What are these things?"

"Draugr." Maven spoke as she lifted her staff. "They're corpses animated by Black magic and their strength matches the one they had in life, depending on how much energy was used."

"And if they bite you?"

"...Pierce, I wouldn't recommend being bitten by anything. Why would you ask now?"

"..."

"..."

"...You know what, that's actually a good que-" Then the Draugrs rushed at us.